Isis Unveiled: chapter II (A Deeper Philosophy)

“The phenomena of the mystic odors and music, exhibited by Roger Bacon, have been often observed in our own time. To say nothing of our personal experience, we are informed by English correspondents of the Theosophical Society that they have heard strains of the most ravishing music, coming from no visible instrument, and inhaled a succession of delightful odors produced, as they believed, by spirit-agency.

One correspondent tells us that so powerful was one of these familiar odors – that of sandalwood – that the house would be impregnated with it for weeks after the seance.

The medium in this case was a member of a private family, and the experiments were all made within the domestic circle. Another describes what he calls a “musical rap”. The potencies that are now capable of producing these phenomena must have existed and been equally efficacious in the days of Roger Bacon.

As to the apparitions, it suffices to say that they are evoked now in spiritualistic circles, and guaranteed by scientists, and their evocation by Roger Bacon is thus made more probable than ever.”